Groomed for Life?

When I was a teacher in a small, rural town, Atlanta, I spent many hours on snow-covered, dangerous roads to commute from Gaylord.  I remember I left early-morning to get to school in order to avoid the buses in Otsego and Montmorency county on the way.  (which included buses from three different school systems) 

If I didn’t plan ahead, I had to spend extra time on the road. And the danger of slippery roads increased with the buses.

Today, when I drove back from the Upper Peninsula, I thought about the experience I acquired from navigating those curvy, hilly roads on M-32 in all kinds of weather (watching out for wildlife at the same time).

It was dark and bitter cold this morning when I left for Pellston to drop off my sister for her flight back to Tennessee. There was light, blowing snow and I took Mill Road across to I-75 to head south.

Those small roads don’t have the markers highways do and I saw no one until I reached the I-75. When heavy snow did hit, I knew to slow down.  I started seeing cars in the ditch I realized my past had groomed me for traveling in weather like today.

It made me think. “What else has my past learning groomed me for?” 

Maybe when I struggle with something in life, it is grooming me for things in the future. I never like to hear, “It’s a learning experience”, when things are difficult.

I want to say, “No thanks, I’ll skip the lessons.”

Of course I really don’t know what the future-map has in store for me.  Perhaps when I’m forced to handle loss and I have to adjust, compensate, or  screw-up-royally, I’m being prepped to have an easier time of things in the future. 

For me to think in those terms seems a lot easier than telling myself what I’ve gone through was just a waste of time. I don’t need to berate myself for not being smart enough to know better right now. I can see it as prep-school for the future.